On which catheter would you first see premature ventricular contractions?

On which catheter would you first see premature ventricular contractions?

• A. RA catheter
• B. RV catheter
• C. Coronary sinus catheter
• D. LV catheter

Answer: (B)

Premature ventricular contractions come from ventricular myocardium, so to detect them you want a recording site inside the ventricle. The right ventricular catheter sits in the right ventricle and will register ventricular depolarizations as soon as they occur. An RA catheter records atrial activity and would miss the ventricular ectopy early; a coronary sinus catheter mainly tracks signals from the left atrium and LV epicardial regions rather than the immediate intraventricular onset; while a left ventricular catheter could also pick up ventricular ectopy, in routine EP setup the first and most direct ventricular signal you’d see comes from the right ventricle.

Premature ventricular contractions come from ventricular myocardium, so to detect them you want a recording site inside the ventricle. The right ventricular catheter sits in the right ventricle and will register ventricular depolarizations as soon as they occur. An RA catheter records atrial activity and would miss the ventricular ectopy early; a coronary sinus catheter mainly tracks signals from the left atrium and LV epicardial regions rather than the immediate intraventricular onset; while a left ventricular catheter could also pick up ventricular ectopy, in routine EP setup the first and most direct ventricular signal you’d see comes from the right ventricle.